There was a cat in the world whose name was Misifus. Such a robber that everyone trembled before him with fear. All he knew, being hungry, was to take food from other cats. And everyone was so tired of it that the cat neighbors complained about him to the mayor of their cat village.
The alcalde, a worthy and fair person, listened to the complaints and, stroking his thick mustache, looked sternly at Misiphus and said:
“Go away from our village and don’t come back until you feel the desire to be obedient and decent.”
Misiphus went, but did not live honestly, but became a robber. Armed with two pistols, he intercepted travelers and robbed them.
Soon such fear was spread throughout the entire outskirts that no one dared to walk in those places.
It got to the point where there was no one left to rob. So Misiphus almost died of hunger.
Then he began to attack peasant estates and chickens. He was a cunning, cunning bastard, stealing chickens from under the very noses of the guard dogs guarding the chicken coops. It seemed that Misiphus would continue to act outrageously. But one day he encroached on Cookie-Mookie, the best laying hen of Juan the Plowman.
“This chicken cannot escape my claws,” Misiphus swore to himself, seeing Cookie-Mookie from the high fence where he had just climbed out.
Juan the Plowman had the best guard dog in the entire outskirts. Not a single cat dared to even approach the chicken coop that Dick guarded.
“Nothing, nothing, Cookie-Mookie,” Misiphus said to himself. “I already know how to fool your guard.”
He dressed up as an ordinary wanderer, pretended to be an obedient domestic cat and went to Dick.
“Your cousin, Roque the Shepherd’s dog, asked me to give you this fried sausage,” he said, greeting him.
Dick even blushed with pleasure.
“Come in, come in,” he invited Misiphus into the yard. - Let's enjoy it together.
“I thank you sincerely, but I don’t have time, I’m in a hurry,” Misiphus refused.
Meanwhile, he hid behind a thick tree and began to wait, because he knew that if Dick ate the sausage, he would immediately fall asleep. And so it happened.
In vain did Cookie-Mookie cackle and beat her wings, calling for help; in vain did her neighbor chickens rush to save her: Misiphus deftly grabbed her with his claws and instantly ran away, leaving only light feathers.
When Juan the Plowman's wife saw Misiphus running away with her best chicken and Dick snoring blissfully, she became terribly angry. She grabbed a club and had to wake Dick up with it, saying:
- Here's to you for the delicious sausage, here's to you for snoring endlessly, here's to you for wasting the best laying hen!
– I won’t do it anymore, I won’t do it anymore! - Dick begged.
And he decided to take revenge on the robber cat for his daring deception.
Having grown stronger, Dick gathered all the guard dogs of the farmsteads where Misiphus climbed.
“Shame on us,” Dick addressed them, “to endure abuse from one worthless cat!” We, noble dogs, must stand up for our honor! So let's ask the scoundrel Misifus!
- Let's ask! – the dogs shouted in unison. Misiphus tried in vain to hide in the dense forest. The guard dogs, led by Dick, found the Cat and gave him such a beating that there was no place left on him alive. - Here's to you for the delicious chicken! And this is so that you don’t want it yet! - they said.
After such a thrashing, Misifus barely reached his native village and began to ask the alcalde cat:
“If you take me back, I promise that no one will ever complain about me again.” And so it happened.
Misiphus always behaved well, was honest, hard-working and obedient. They say that since then he has not put chicken in his mouth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru